BSA’s “Thunderbolt” tops our list of the best motorcycle model names. It sounds cool and has been used for fighter planes, too, so it has to be good.
Top 10 Motorcycle Model Names
BSA’s “Thunderbolt” tops our list of the best motorcycle model names. It sounds cool and has been used for fighter planes, too, so it has to be good.Product names are generally selected to inspire buyer interest, confidence, admiration, affinity and to evoke a feeling or emotional response as well as to convey the character or mission of the product.In motorcycle model names, that would involve choosing a name or designation that conveys strength, speed, agility, toughness, power, reliability, history, heritage, or something along those lines; or at least that would seem to be the general gist of naming a motorcycle model. Or, the model name should at least sound cool.
The Commando name evokes a sense of toughness—the vintage Norton of that name does the same.In that vein, and in the spirit of our past top 10s on things that really don’t matter all that much but are fun to think about, we present what we consider our choices for the Top 10 Best—and Worst—Motorcycle Model Names of All Time.We also present some that we couldn’t make up our minds on, so we created the “could go either way” category. We’ll leave it to our readers to decide.Please note that selection to the best or worst name list is no reflection on the quality of that model—this list goes only to the name of the model. We don’t want to imply there’s anything inherently wrong with any of the “worst” names, either. They may have made the list just because we think they are weird, odd, strange, ironic, contrary, counter-intuitive for the purpose (like obscure or unflattering double meanings, for example) or funny in some way.As in the past, our criteria are arbitrary and capricious. Our criteria for selection to each list are just that—our criteria. Fairness, logic and some systematic approach have no bearing on our choices and you as the reader are free to agree or disagree as you will. Indeed, we are interested in your thoughts on the subject of contenders for each list. We won’t do anything about it, but we are interested, nonetheless.Here goes.Top 10 Best Motorcycle Model Names of All Time:
Thunderbolt (BSA)
Venom (Velocette)
Spitfire (BSA)
Interceptor (Honda, Royal Enfield, et.al.)
Thunderbird (Triumph)
Black Lightning (Vincent-HRD)
Lightning (BSA, Buell, et.al.)
X-75 Hurricane (Triumph)
Mach I (II, III, IV) Kawasaki, Ducati (Mach 1S)
Commando (Norton)
Honorable mention:
Ninja (Kawasaki)
Silver Hawk (Matchless)
Victor 441 (BSA)
Super Glide (Harley-Davidson)
Bonneville (Triumph)
Bullet (Royal Enfield)
Rocket III (BSA and Triumph)
Katana (Suzuki)
Super Hawk (Honda)
Road King (Harley-Davidson)
Avenger (Kawasaki)
Trident (Triumph)
Intruder (Suzuki)
Trail 90 (Honda)
Bandit (Suzuki)
Tiger (Triumph)
Magna (Honda)
Sportster (Harley-Davidson)
Black Bird (Honda)
Daytona (Triumph)
Dominator (Norton)
Formula 3 (Ducati)
V-Max (Yamaha)
Top 10 Worst Motorcycle Model Names of All Time:
Pixie (Ariel)
Regina Columbus (Horex)
Flying Merkel (Merkel)
Squirrel (Scott)
Mancunian (DOT)
Stroud (Panther)
Elefant (Cagiva)
Meteor Minor (Royal Enfield)
Scat (Harley-Davidson)
Dragonfly (Douglas)
Could go either way:
FireBlade (Honda)
Virago (Yamaha)
Beagle (BSA)
Red Hunter (Ariel)
Fire Storm (Honda)
TransAlp (Honda)
Topper (Harley-Davidson–scooter)
Varadero (Honda)
Valkyrie (Honda)
Shadow (Honda)
Vision (Yamaha)
Hayabusa (Suzuki)
Torpedo (Ducati)
Diana (Ducati)
Desmo (Ducati)
Hummer (Harley-Davidson)
Top 10 Motorcycle Names of All Time – Best & Worst
BSA’s “Thunderbolt” tops our list of the best motorcycle model names. It sounds cool and has been used for fighter planes, too, so it has to be good.
An Interceptor has to have the speed to run down a target and the Honda VFR750 Interceptor looked the part.
Velocette’s high-performance “Venom” sounds nasty—probably to offset the hoity-toity sounding “Velocette.”
BSA’s “Lightning” isn’t the only bike to bear the name and what says “quick” better than that?
The Commando name evokes a sense of toughness—the vintage Norton of that name does the same.
Hello everyone and welcome once again to Ultimate Motorcycling’s weekly Podcast—Motos and Friends.
My name is Arthur Coldwells.
This week’s Podcast is brought to you by Yamaha motorcycles. Discover how the YZF-R7 provides the perfect balance of rider comfort and true supersport performance by checking it out at YamahaMotorsports.com, or see it for yourself at your local dealer.
This week’s episode features Senior Editor Nic de Sena’s impressions of the beautiful new Harley-Davidson Low Rider ST that is loosely based around the original FXRT Sport Glide from the 1980s. Hailing from The Golden State, these cult-status performance machines became known as West Coast style, with sportier suspension, increased horsepower, and niceties including creature comforts such as a tidy fairing and sporty luggage.
In past episodes you might have heard us mention my best friend, Daniel Schoenewald, and in the second segment I chat with him about some of the really special machines in his 170 or so—and growing—motorcycle collection. He’s always said to me that he doesn’t consider himself the owner, merely the curator of the motorcycles for the next generation.
Yet Daniel is not just a collector, but I can attest a really skilled rider. His bikes are not trailer queens, they’re ridden, and they’re ridden pretty hard. Actually, we have had many, many memorable rides on pretty much all of the machines in the collection at one time or another.
From all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!
